Four from Trinity University Awarded Fulbrights

Three Trinity University students and one recent alumnus have received awards from the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, one of the most prestigious programs focused on global diplomacy by funding opportunities overseas.

Jackson Delhagen ’25 and Marina Oquendo ’26 each received Fulbright English Teaching Awards to Spain. Lara Lashus ’26 received a Fulbright research award to India. Nina Pollak ’26 received a Fulbright Study Award to pursue a master’s in conflict resolution and mediation. Details of her program, including location, are still being finalized.

Last year, Trinity was named a Fulbright “top producer” for being among the colleges and universities with the highest number of faculty and administrators selected for the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. 

Helping students receive Fulbright and other national awards is a priority for Trinity. The opportunities created by the awards address goals of the university’s strategic plan, Ready. Set. Rise., to commit to the highest level of excellence in teaching, research, and service, and to be a national leader by preparing students to thrive in an interconnected world. In April, Alynn Jimenez Miranda ’27 was named a Truman Scholar, Trinity’s first since 1998. Thirty-seven Trinity students have won Fulbright awards since 1968.

Having four Fulbright winners “is a reflection of the amount of work our students put into their applications and the hard work of our Fulbright team,” said Jason Johnson Ph.D., professor of history and director of Trinity’s Fulbright program for students, which operates under the Center for International Engagement. He spent a year in Berlin on a Fulbright Fellowship in 2008-2009. 

Jenny Browne M.F.A., professor of English, became co-director of the Fulbright efforts in 2023. She has had two Fulbrights to Northern Ireland. Sabrina Cortez ’15, a study abroad advisor, also assists with Fulbright applications. 

Johnson and Browne introduce students to the Fulbright program with individual meetings and guidance. Cortez holds virtual and in-person workshops for applicants and spreads word of Fulbright at career fairs and other events. 

“We live in an increasingly globalized world,” Johnson says. “Fulbright is a way for students to have the time and funding to go abroad. It’s increasingly important.” 

A competitive Fulbright candidate begins thinking about their application early in their college careers, Johnson says. High GPAs matter less than the broader academic profile. “Students are cultural ambassadors of the United States when they’re abroad. The Fulbright committee looks for the overall profile of a student to see what they can offer as an ambassador.” 

The summer before their senior year, interested students begin the application process by submitting to Johnson by June 1 a one-page, double-spaced statement about the kind of Fulbright they’re interested in, what country they want to apply to, and what’s motivating them to apply. Trinity students will be interviewed on campus and given feedback on their complete, formal applications after the September 20 internal university deadline. Final versions of the application are due by the national deadline, which this year is October 6. In late January, Fulbright notifies students if their applications are moving forward, and awardees are notified around April. 

Read more about this year’s Fulbright Award winners.

Jackson Delhagen ’25, Fulbright Teaching Award to Spain

Delhagen, from Wimberley, Texas, majored in political science and minored in Spanish and history. He was a Student Government Association senator and founded the Students with Disabilities Society. He was also involved with Kappa Kappa Delta and the mock trial team. With the Fulbright, he says, “I not only want to teach English and impart something on students that they’ll take with them forever, but to also become so deeply immersed in my community so that it becomes a part of who I am.”

Lara Lashus ’26, Fulbright Research Award to India

During her time at Trinity, Lashus, a sociology and global health major from Austin, Texas, studied abroad three times, in Paraguay, India, and Uganda. She researched gender and sexuality topics and analyzed the productions of social and political injustice. She worked as a research assistant in sociology for four years. She wrote for The Trinitonian and served as an officer for Tigers for Reproductive Justice. In India, she plans “to study ethnomedicine and cultural and environmental shifts related to the business and harvest of native plants for medicinal uses.” She also plans to extend her honors thesis work on hijra identity and the Indian state. 

Marina Oquendo ’26, Fulbright Teaching Award to Spain’s Canary Islands

Oquendo, from Austin, Texas, triple majored in art history, global Latinx studies, and Spanish, and minored in museum studies. At Trinity, she participated in the Trinity Art Collective, Cat Alliance Trinity, and Latinx leadership. She was a resident assistant and a first-year experience tutor, and was involved with Conmemorando a la Comunidad, a digital humanities project that documents the Latinx experience at Trinity. She researched Latinx and Chicanx alumni from the 1970s and 1980s who became nationally recognized artists, activists, and educators. “I hope to use my love of the arts and passion for my culture to connect with my students,” she says.

Nina Pollak ’26, Fulbright Study Award for a master’s degree in conflict resolution and mediation

Pollak, from Washington, D.C., majored in political science and Spanish. She researched international human rights, international criminal justice, and democratic participation. She also competed on Trinity’s women’s soccer team and founded MOVE Texas at Trinity, leading voter registration and civic engagement initiatives. Pollak studied away in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Spain, engaging communities on post-conflict reconciliation and educational. She says her graduate work will “continue my commitment to diplomacy, peace building, and cross-cultural dialogue.” She aspires to be a U.S. ambassador. “I’m especially grateful for the mentorship and guidance of Dr. Rosa Aloisi (political science), Dr. Lauren Turek (history), and Dr. Rita Urquijo-Ruiz (modern languages and literatures).”